You will either find rationality in irrationality or irrationality in rationality here. Just depends upon who you are!

Sunday, June 26, 2011

The Curious Case of a Marriage (Part-I)

Mr. K woke up from his treacherous dreams on one cold November morning to realize that he was married. Marriage as most think is not a function of going through some ludicrous rituals. A dog and a bitch can go through all the rites ever contrived by any religion but will never be married. Marriage is a state of mind. That morning as K opened up his eyes he felt different. He felt married. The brisk aroma oozing out of his bed, the absence of cigarette pack on the bed side, an impulse to hold someone, no desire to check email on his blackberry and above all just the way he felt he knew something was not the same. He knew he was married before he heard an enamouring voice say "Get up. I have cooked your favourite dish for your lunch". Now the expectation from a cynical K would be that he jumps out of his bed full of surprise and exhibits a shocking face but nothing of that sort happened. He felt something he could not define but he knew it was good and he was wise enough to let it be. When it's not broke, don't try to fix it. He quietly slipped out of his bed.

The house presented a picture he was not used to. A clean bed sheet, the books neatly kept on the book shelve, no beer bottles on the floor, no dirty underwear's in sight, an ironed pair of shirt and trousers along with socks and a handkerchief kept on the table, car keys and his office ID card lying alongside them, a new dining table, his laptop tucked in his bag and an old soothing Hindi song playing made him think for a while that he was not in his home. He pinched himself twice to ensure that he was not dreaming. He moved towards the kitchen. She was wearing a pink coloured silk night gown that was shining bright in the yellow electric bulb that lit the kitchen. Her hair were pulled away from the face tied to a butterfly shaped green hair clip. Like a seasoned artist she moved the wooden spoon gently in the frying pan. "Hi baby" she said in her melodious voice as she arched her slender neck and gave him a peck on his cheek. K noticed an adorable face, glowing skin, big and beautiful round eyes, wide forehead, small mole on a round nose, well formed curvy lips and a distinctive smell. The soft touch of her lips felt like two rose petals. He was aroused immediately. Incognizant of how married men react when their wives kiss them he could only present a gentle smile. "Go, get ready now and don't throw the towel on the bed".

The phone buzzed. It was Ankh, K's colleague and his closest friend back from his college days. After sharing initial pleasantries he said "I have good news. Aaradhaya and I are getting married". "That is awesome dude. I am so happy for you guys" K replied. "You and Suvaasini have to be there" Ankh said. It was the first time K heard that name. Ankh must have been talking about his wife he thought. Suvaasini passed by and asked "Whom are you talking to?". "Ankh is getting married" K said. "That's amazing! Let me talk to him and wish him luck" she said and took the phone from him excitedly. K walked towards the shower noticing the friendliness in her voice talking to Ankh clearly indicating that she and Ankh knew each other very well. He got ready as fast as he could and raced through his breakfast that was served on the new dining table. Corn flakes in cold milk, multi-grained toasts with eggs served sunny side up. It was just the perfect breakfast for him. She seemed to know it all. By the time he finished his breakfast Suvaasini had dressed up in her business attire. Her shining hair were open now and hanging on her shoulders. "We have to go out to the sandwich tasting event. Remember to be back by 6" she said and rushed out.

K was the biggest cynic always oppugning everything around him. An engineering student it was natural for him to reason, to apply science and logic. Over a period of time he had added rationality, good, bad, right, wrong to his repertoire. As soon as he came out of his house and sat in his car he came out of the trance. The first thing he checked was the date. It was what he expected. No issues there. "Who is she? What is going on? Where am I? I need to get to the bottom of this matter. It must be a prank that someone is playing on me" he thought driving towards his office. He called up his mother. "How are you doing K and how is Suvaasini?". The phone almost slipped out of his hand. "Is she also involved in this stupid game?". By the time he reached office he had called up four people and a conclusion was reached that the entire world was conspiring against him. He met Ankh at the reception. "Did you watch the game yesterday? Federer is in to the quarters" Ankh said excitedly. "Federer is a spent force. Just as Nadal will be two years from now" he responded shaking his head. "You will never change dude. You are always cribbing. Why is it so difficult to enjoy his victory? Moreover have the faith that he will deliver the goods" Ankh said irked with K's reaction. He got to his cubicle and to his utter surprise he saw a picture of her on his desk. It took him a while but once he was settled in his cubicle K put his analytical hat on. The curiosity was killing him and he needed to know. He checked his email and saw thousands of emails from Suvaasini, none of them he remembered reading or sending out. His phone vibrated in his pocket. It was a message from Suvaasini. "Don't forget 6 pm. Love". She existed in his telephone directory as well he realized.

"You are a lucky man dude. Suvaasini is such a great cook. I am going to send Aaradhaya someday to take some cooking lessons" Ankh said over lunch. K nodded as they devoured on K's lunch box. K almost bit his finger savouring his food and still pondering over what was going on around him. Back to his desk he could not put his mind to work. His mind wandered everywhere seeking a possible explanation to what was going on. He received an insurance policy by mail and the nominee on that policy was none other than Suvaasini. By 5 pm his brain had stopped working completely and that's when his boss called up "K, can you come to my office please? I need your help in filling up a tender". Once inside his boss's room he was able to focus on the job at hand. "Why don't you and your wife come over sometime for drinks?" his boss said after they were done with filling up the tender. He came of the office flummoxed and saw eleven missed calls on his cell phone, all from Suvaasini. It was 9 pm. He called her back but she did not pick up. He tried again but did not get any answer. He rushed towards home. "Enough of this mystery and these games. As soon as I get back home I am going to ask her who she is and what is it that is going on" he thought. He entered his house and called her name. "Suvaasini". He realized that it was the first time that he actually called up her name. He liked the esoteric tone of it. He found her in the bedroom sitting on the bed. She was dressed in an elegant black dress with her arms folded around the knees and her head buried in them. It did not take him long to understand that she was crying. He thought of asking her the ultimate question but realizing that she was probably crying because of him being late he changed his mind. She looked up. Her tears had completely smudged the eye liner around her eyes. K felt a certain sense of guilt. He was clueless as he did not know how married men handle their upset wives. All he could muster was "I'm sorry". She did not say a word. The silence in the room killed him.

"I know your work is important to you but you could have told me that you are going to be busy and I would have gone alone. You know I am crazy about chicken sandwiches" she finally broke the silence and kept on sobbing. "How can someone be crazy about chicken sandwiches" he thought. "I am sorry Suvaasini. It was completely unintentional. I completely forgot about the event buried deep in my work" K said. "That's the real problem K. It's unintentional. You don't care for me". K was agitated at that comment. He wanted to pull his hair apart. Why should he care for someone he just met in the morning? He wanted to scream and pop out the question when she got up and moved out of the bedroom. K calmed himself down and followed her to the patio. "I'm sorry Suvaasini, let's go out for dinner" he said putting her arm around her shoulders. She chucked his hand and looked away. K took a deep breath and said again "Please". Suvaasini turned back and said "OK. The sandwich event closes tomorrow so we will go there tomorrow. No excuses for tomorrow. By the way how is this dress and how am I looking?".

She wiped her tears off with her hand. She looked like a devil in disguise in the black dress with the moon light falling on her innocent face that was now completely smeared with the eye liner. She looked beautiful.